Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers Training Coordination Program (TAAF)

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture operates the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers Training Coordination Program (TAAF, CFDA 10.315), which funded agricultural producer training and business adjustment services, with the most recent grant award disbursed on August 15, 2012—fourteen years ago.

The program is inactive by modern standards. Three Cooperative Agreements totaling $34.2 million in federal dollars obligated comprise the entire recorded portfolio, awarded between 2009 and 2012. No grant opportunities have been posted recently, and no awards have been disbursed since mid-2012. The program funded two National TAAF Training Coordination Centers established in September 2009 (one for $16.4 million, the other for $17.64 million, both completing August 31, 2012) and one Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory participation award in August 2012 ($202,000). The training centers delivered knowledge, skills, and tools to U.S. agricultural producers whose commodities had been certified as import-affected by USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and approved through individual application, with the goal of enhancing farm profitability and operational adjustment capacity.

All funding came from a single source: the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The assistance-type portfolio consisted entirely of Cooperative Agreements.

The program's explicit purpose—coordinating training for trade-impacted farmers—suggests it was designed to operate through periodic solicitations and cooperative funding arrangements with training organizations. The fourteen-year gap between the most recent award and today, combined with the absence of recent opportunities in the source, indicates the program is not currently active. Organizations considering pursuit should verify current operational status and funding intent with USDA NIFA before initiating application development.